


After the Armageddon

by ChokolatteJedi



Category: Armageddon (1998)
Genre: Aftermath, Awards, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2019-03-14 12:25:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13590015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/ChokolatteJedi
Summary: There was a moment, on the tarmac, when everything stopped, and her world was AJ being alive and holding her. Nothing else mattered in that moment. Then, reality came crashing back.





	After the Armageddon

There was a moment, on the tarmac, when everything stopped, and her world was AJ being alive and holding her. Nothing else mattered in that moment.

Then, reality came crashing back. Her father was dead. Max and Oscar and Freddy too. Then Colonel Sharp shook her hand, and a minute later AJ gave something to Truman - she didn’t know the significance - and then he was kissing her and holding her tightly again. But the moment was gone.

They were shepherded back to the NASA conference rooms. There were more forms to sign, and condolences given, and someone handed her a CD, but she didn’t look closely at it. AJ was pulled from her side briefly for his return physical, but the rest of the time they stuck to each other like glue.

Finally, they were allowed to leave NASA, but it wasn’t over yet. General Kimsey was waiting for them at the door with a batch of his soldiers, and their group was quickly flanked and escorted to a line of matching black SUVs. AJ asked where they were going, but he was ignored. Grace just concentrated on holding on to him. When it came right down to it, there were two important men in her life. She’d lost one; she wasn’t letting go of the other any time soon.

The convoy of SUVs eventually arrived at a large, imposing building, and they were ushered inside. Each of her boys - and Grace distantly noticed that Colonel Sharp and the other real astronauts were there too - were ushered into separate private rooms. They tried to get her to leave AJ, but she refused, and followed him into his room.

There, a man in a suit who never smiled asked AJ all about the mission. They wanted to know what had happened on the Space Station. They wanted to know how AJ had survived the crash of the Independence. The ‘you, of all people’ was implied, but Grace could tell from the tension in his back that AJ had gotten the message. They wanted to know how AJ and the others had rescued the armadillo, and how they had gotten it to the Freedom site. They wanted to know every detail about the drilling; why each choice had been made.

AJ’s reply that “that was what happened when you drill,” wasn’t well received.

They asked about Rockhound’s breakdown, the rock storms that killed Gruber and destroyed the detonator, and drawing straws. They asked how Harry had taken AJ’s place, and for the first time he cried when telling them.

Finally they ran out of questions, and Grace and AJ were shown to a small room with two beds. Ignoring the second one, they curled up together, both crashing out almost immediately.

They were woken some time later by an aide, and shown to a locker room. Separating briefly for the first time since the landing, they went to change. Grace found a dress in her size almost identical to the black one that had been covered in oil just a few weeks ago. As she pulled it on, Grace absently wondered how detailed the government’s dossier on her had become.

Pulling her hair up and slipping on the low heels provided, Grace hurried back out of the locker room. There, she found AJ waiting for her, back in a grey-green jumpsuit with his name on it. He was standing with Rockhound, Bear, and Chick, and Grace gave each of them a slightly tearful hug before grabbing AJ’s hand again.

They were soon joined by General Kimsey, his entourage, and Sharp and Watts, both in their blue jumpsuits. Lev joined them a minute later in his own red jumpsuit.

Kimsey lead the group into a large room full of people and up onto a small stage, for what Grace realized must be a press conference. When she was introduced as ‘Grace Stamper, daughter of Crew Chief Harry Stamper and new CEO of Stamper Oil,’ it finally hit her. Harry was gone. Her dad was gone. Grace wanted to cry, but Stampers didn’t cry, so she just fiercely squeezed AJ’s hand beneath the table. Though she hadn’t thought about it before, Grace suddenly decided that she wouldn’t take AJ’s name; she would stay a Stamper. It was the least she could do for Harry.

The press conference finally ended, and they were once again packed into a convoy of black SUVs. This time, however, they weren’t kept separated, and Grace found herself sandwiched between AJ and Chick. She never let go of AJ, but for a while she leaned her head on Chick’s shoulder, they way she used to with him and Harry when she was younger. She knew Harry’s death had hit him the hardest of all the guys.

Chick and Harry had been raised together, gone into the military together (though different branches), and then worked together afterwards. They were as close as brothers, she knew, and Chick had always been like an uncle to her. And not the creepy kind of uncle, like Rockhound, but the real family kind.

She was broken from her musing by the car stopping, and when they piled out, they were once again escorted into a building. They were soon joined in their small waiting room by Max’s mother, Oscar’s dad, and someone who claimed to be Freddy’s uncle.

There was a round of tearful hugs, and then they were all escorted to another fancily decorated stage in a room full of reporters. This time, however, there was only a single microphone at a podium, and a group of soldiers in Air Force uniforms on the far side of the stage.

Grace and the others were quickly arranged in seats on the near side of the stage, and then a phalanx of men in black suits and glasses swept across the stage. They were followed by a man that Grace thought she should recognize, but her senses were so overloaded right now that his identity escaped her. Beside her, AJ gasped softly, as did some of the others.

An aide stood at the microphone and announced, “The President of the United States,” and Grace finally realized who the man was. The President nodded and then took a seat on the far side of the stage. An Army General stepped up to the podium, replacing the aide, and a couple of soldiers stepped forward with small black boxes in their hands.

As Max’s mother accepted Max’s Congressional Space Medal of Honor, Grace and AJ switched from holding hands to linking arms, so that they could clap. Grace politely clapped as each of the others, including Truman and the families of Gruber and the Independence crew, was presented with the same Congressional Space Medal of Honor. The only time they separated was when AJ accepted his own medal, and Grace accepted Harry’s immediately after.

Then the families of Gruber, Halsey, Tucker, and Davis were awarded their Purple Hearts. It was explained that a recent ruling of Congress had made it impossible to award Purple Hearts to civilian contractors, as had been the case previously, so instead Max, Oscar, Freddy, and Harry were awarded the Air Force’s Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service, for, as the General declared, “their great courage and voluntary risk of life in performing an act resulting in direct benefit to the Government or its personnel.”

Another General stood and announced that there were several other awards that they had qualified for, such as the Space Flight medal, and several bravery medals and those would be presented later, so as to not make this press conference run into the next day. Gracy absently noted the number of medals on the General’s uniform, and wondered if she would collect more for Harry than he had by the end of this.

Finally, all of them were asked to stand, and the President himself stepped up to the podium. After another short speech, which Grace allowed to wash over her, all fifteen of the astronauts or their families were presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which he declared the United States’ highest civilian honor. Harry’s was the last one, and the president announced that, in light of his leadership and exceptional personal sacrifice, his Medal of Freedom was awarded with Distinction.

Grace didn’t know or care to know the difference, so she simply nodded and accepted it, as she had the others. Her lap was getting so full of medal boxes she was finding it hard to keep in contact with AJ and clap at the same time, so she gave up and just watched the rest of the conference.

There were further speeches, and hints of awards to come, both for those on stage and for several others at NASA who had been part of the mission. Grace was reminded of when she and Harry had been pulled off the rig a few weeks ago, and people were apologizing to them left and right. She thought this stream of medals was just another apology.

Sorry for your loss. Sorry that you had to do what we should have done. Here, have a medal for your troubles.

oOo

It was a whirlwind for several months, as they went from press conference to awards ceremony, interview to meeting with heads of state. Over and over, Grace and AJ stood side by side and smiled as people recounted the mission of the Freedom and Independence.

Russia was the first stop, because of Lev, and he was awarded the Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Russian Federation, the Hero of the Russian Federation, and the Order of Saint George. All of them received the Medal For Merit in Space Exploration and the Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle.

In England, they met the Queen, were awarded the George Cross, and were Honorarily knighted into the Order of the Bath. In Australia they met the Prime Minister, received the Australian Cross of Valor, and were made Knights of the Order of Australia. The French President gave them the Legion of Honour. The German President gave them the Gold Cross of Honour for Outstanding Deeds and the Cross of Honour for Bravery. In Spain they joined the Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III. In Greece it was the Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer and an honorary Cross of Valour. In Israel they were given the Chief of Staff Medal of Appreciation. Japan saw them inducted into the Grand Cordon: Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum and receiving the Medal of Honor.

After that the ceremonies, medals, and orders blurred together. Grace lost track, though she thought it was interesting that even she was given some awards for “her part” in the mission. Considering that her part had mostly consisted of sitting by the radio crying and attacking General Kimsey, Grace didn’t think that she had done anything to deserve getting a medal or honor, but she couldn’t deny them.

Finally, after what felt like years, but which she had been assured was only three months, the parade of honors was over, and the group returned to Texas; the NASA contingent to Houston and the Drillers to Galveston.

At the Stamper Oil Headquarters, Grace entered Harry’s office for the first time since the week they were pulled to NASA. She had been escorted to the office to gather the files on their crew when Harry decided to do the job. It had been just enough time to gather the files, grab her emergency travel bag of clothes from her office, and leave a note for the office manager, Jeneane, that she and Harry would be unavailable for a while. Then she had been whisked back to Houston and into the scariest weeks of her life.

Now, having dumped her bag into her office, Grace entered Harry’s office. It was sparsely decorated; Harry was barely there. He was on the rig until they struck oil, and then he was only back in Galveston long enough to wrap up loose ends with that client and find the next drilling spot before he was back out on the rig. Harry was a working guy, not an office guy. In fact, that he was so rarely in Galveston was the main reason Grace’s mother had left. 

His office reflected that: there were three pictures on the wall; Harry in his navy uniform, five-year-old Grace standing beside him on the rig as he held up a wrench taller than her, and the two of them at Grace’s graduation. There had been another picture of young Harry with his dad and Grandpa in front of the old Stanton Oil sign, but the hook had fallen out of the wall a while ago and never been fixed. It had remained on the floor, leaning against the wall, for a few years now. Those were the only personal touches in the office.

Grace thought about putting up a photo of Harry in his space suit. Maybe a display of all his new medals or something. But part of her didn’t want to change a thing. This had always been Harry’s office, and this was the way he liked it. Did Grace have the right to change that?

Of course, it had been Grandpa John’s office before it was Harry’s, and his father’s before that. Maybe it was right for Grace, fourth generation Stamper, to take over this office.

But that decision could wait until tomorrow. Or even next week. This week she had a company to run. Grace returned to her own office, which was almost as sparse as Harry’s. Clearly the apple hadn’t fallen far from the tree, no matter how often she had protested to the contrary.

Grace was fine with the paper aspects of running the company - she had been doing more and more of that for Harry over the years. Jeneane had been running the office for as long as Grace could remember, and she would probably continue to do so for years to come. The only thing Grace couldn’t do - the thing that had made Harry so good - was know where to drill. AJ had the raw talent, but it wasn’t refined from years of work the way Harry’s was. Maybe Chick could help. Grace made a note.

She also needed to take care of the final details from their last drill. They had struck oil, and the client knew, but Grace had never had the chance to complete all the follow up paperwork. Chick had gotten the guys off the rig, but she hadn’t gone through all the steps to actually shut it down. She’d need to have the MODU replaced with a permanent production rig, which meant she’d need to contact Johnny at the plant. Grace made another note.

While she shut down the old rig, they would also need to start looking for a new drill site. She would need Rock to look over the geological surveys, Grace realized. She was probably going to have to pay off Rock’s loan shark in order to keep him in working condition. She made another note. It wasn’t an ideal situation, but that was the kind of thing that happened when dealing with roughnecks. Grace made a note. And she would need to replace Oscar on that team. Jeneane would need to start interviewing replacements. Another note went onto Grace’s pad.

oOo

By the time the sunset had tinted the room orange and her stomach began growling, Grace had five pages of notes on her yellow pad. More importantly, she knew that she could carry on Harry’s work. Stampers were oil drillers, and just like her father and his father before him, Grace was a Stamper. 


End file.
